The regular City Council meeting of the Mazeppa City Council was called to order at 6:10 PM by Mayor Chris Hagfors.
Pledge of allegiance was said.
Present: Mayor Chris Hagfors. Council Persons: Erica Young, Mike Hammes, and Steve Liffrig.
Others Present: City Attorney Luke Lamprecht, City Administrator Clerk Karl Nahrgang, City Engineer Matt Mohs, Elizabeth Deming from Lamprecht Law Office, John Betcher, Adeline Betcher, Tracy Beyer, Matt Murray, John Clemens, Missy Papenfus, and Karen DuCharme from SEMMCHRA.
Attending via electronic meeting: Bob Josselyn, Holly Galbus from the News Record, and Brian Grogan from Moss and Barnett.
Absent: Jeff Nelson.
Motion by Hammes, second by Young to approve the agenda and addendum. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Motion by Hammes, second by Young to approve the October 13, 2021 Regular City Council meeting minutes, the October 21, 2021 Council working session meeting minutes, and the October 27, 2021 reconvened meeting minutes. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Motion by Hammes, second by Liffrig to close the Regular City Council meeting and open the Public Hearing. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Regular meeting closed at 6:11 PM.
Public hearing opened at 6:11 PM.
First reading of Ordinance 2021-?? Renewing Cable TV Franchise agreement Nuvera Communications.
Brian Grogan of Moss & Barnett explained the Cable TV Franchise Agreement with Nuvera (formerly known as Sleepy Eye Telephone). A franchise agreement pays the City for using City rights-of-way for the cable company’s infrastructure. The agreement only applies to the cable TV function, not to broadband or telephone services. This was a lengthy process due to Federal Communications Commission rules changes being litigated, so the agreement was delayed until the outcome of the litigation. A question was asked about telephone/cable TV/broadband easements on private land. The City does not have that authority to grant that access and those agreements would be between landowner and the utility/service provider.
Motion by Young, second by Hammes to close the Public Hearing. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Public Hearing closed at 6:25 PM.
Motion by Hammes, second by Young to open the Regular meeting. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Regular meeting re-opened at 6:26 PM.
Administrator Clerk Karl Nahrgang gave Public Works report.
Fire Chief Bryce Dohrn gave Fire Department report.
Administrator Clerk Karl Nahrgang gave the Mazeppa Municipal Liquor Store report.
Motion by Hammes, second by Liffrig to approve early principal repayment of interfund loan from the Municipal Liquor Store to City reserves of $23,927.38. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
City Engineer Matt Mohs gave an update on current City projects.
Motion by Hammes, second by Young to approve the agenda and addendum. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
A citizen complaint regarding Municipal Liquor Store patron behavior and trash was relayed to the Council by Administrator Clerk Karl Nahrgang, and City Hall’s response.
Motion by Hammes, second by Young to approve building permits: MZ21-22 to Ronningen Roofing for Lisa Nance for a re-roof. MZ21-23 to John Weber for a garage re-roof. MZ21-24 to Viking Contractors for Doug Hanson for a re-roof. MZ21-25 to Reliable Heating for Saints Peter and Paul Church for furnace and air conditioning replacement. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Tracey Beyers and Matt Murray of Brota Valley Wrestling (the Z-M wrestling booster club, a 501c (3) organization) requested permission to hold a raffle drawing at the wrestling meet at the school in Mazeppa on February 3, 2022. State of Minnesota Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement told their organization that the raffle is small enough that they do not need the State permit, but should seek approval from the School District and local government before proceeding.
Motion by Young, second by Liffrig to allow the Brota Valley Wrestling raffle be held on February 3, 2021 at the Z-M school building on February 3, 2021. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Karen DuCharme from SEMMCHRA updated the Council on the results of the Community Development Needs Survey. The next steps are to submit a preliminary proposal to USDA and rank potential projects.
Motion by Young, second by Liffrig to approve SEMMCHRA submitting a preliminary grant proposal for home rehabilitation to USDA. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Mazeppa Economic Development Authority member John Betcher presented an EDA proposal to disburse a portion of the A.R.P.A. funds to community non-profit organizations negatively affected by the pandemic.
Motion by Hammes, second by Young to approve transferring $15,143.50 of the A.R.P.A. funds received by the City of Mazeppa to the Mazeppa EDA to fund to fund their Non-Profit Organization Pandemic Assistance proposal. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
2nd Oldest Arctic Cat Dealer in Minnesota dba MotoProz approached Council to negotiate a reduction in the price for parcel R23.00160.03 that it has agreed to purchase from the City. The reason for the reduction is due to increased survey costs due to the required utility easement and that the survey shows that the required utility easement will limit the buildable area on R23.00160.03 and on their existing property.
Motion by Hammes, second by Young to approve lowering the purchase price for R23.00160.03 from $15,700 to $12,820. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Motion by Young, second by Liffrig to extend the purchase agreement with 2nd Oldest Arctic Cat Dealer in Minnesota dba MotoProz until February 9, 2022. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Motion by Hammes, second by Young to approve using the proceeds from the land sales to 2nd Oldest Arctic Cat Dealer in Minnesota dba MotoProz to fund EDA activities. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Motion by Hammes, second by Young to approve purchase of ice rink and equipment for $6712.28 using funds donated by Mazeppa Lion’s Club and Mazeppa Fire Relief. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Wabasha County Sherriff Chief Deputy Jim Warren called into the meeting via telephone to ask questions on the WCSO Incident Command Report and to apologize for not being able to attend the meeting in person or electronically.
Motion by Hammes, second by Liffrig to approve $1950 for purchase and installation of video surveillance and recording equipment at Herb Vik Park. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Motion by Liffrig, second by Hammes to approve a social media page for Parks and Recreation news and events. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Motion by Young, second by Liffrig to approve the City of Mazeppa Social Media Policy and Personnel Guidelines for Social Media Use. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Motion by Young, second by Liffrig to transfer $93,000 from reserves to the Fire Fund for final payment, due upon delivery, for the new tanker. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Motion by Young, second by Hammes to pay the bills and claims. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
City Attorney Luke Lamprecht discussed procedure for City annexation of land that will take place at the December 8, 2021 meeting.
Motion by Hammes, second by Liffrig to recess until the next Regular City Council meeting. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Next meeting: December 8, 2021 at 6:00 PM.
Meeting recessed at 8:10 PM.